I have alot of books coming and going all the time. I homeschool a 10 year old, my only other child is only 3. I keep thinking i want to save books that my 10 yo doesn't need anymore (either her books or school books) but do I really want to hang onto them until my 3 yo is ready for them? That is a long time to hold onto books that won't be used in that time.

Do you save books for younger children?

I save them.  I spend so much time trying to get them for cheap, I don't want to give them up until the last one is done.  BUT....mine are 6 - 9 - 14 years old.  I guess I keep the higher grades longer, but they get used in between.

I keeo the ones I want to use again for my  year old. Mine are 9 & 4. We use classics that are sometimes very hard to find, so there is no way I am letting them go before my little one is done with them! :D

Oh, my goodness, we save EVERYTHING!  My kids are 8 and 10, and this summer I finally got them to let go of Berenstain Bears, Clifford, Franklin, and other beginner reader books.  I do tend to hang on to books that we may want to reread at some point, or books that were childhood favorites.  Classics are ALWAYS keepers around here.  = )

~Jori

I save everything!!! My kids are 12 and 6 and even though I own more bookshelves then furniture, it is so worth hanging on to them so you don't have to go looking for them again!

Oh, I want to add that I am planning to build a cedar chest so that I can STORE all of the best classics for my GRANDCHILDREN!!!

If you have the space I'd hold onto them.  Like others we are keepers for the most part.  I only have one child 10, so they won't get used again.  If you find that when the youngest goes to use them and you don't like them, then you can sell or list here.  Another thing to think about is if you have any workbook/teachers manuals combos will you be able to find the same edition workbook to match your TM. 

we tend to trade out quite a bit but my kids have totally diffrent learning styles so something that worked great for the oldest is boring to the middle child and my youngest is totally diffrent than her sisters. But in your case you don't really know yet what will work and what won't I would just evaluate what is really rare and what is kind of common would it be hard to find this book again then hang on to it if it's not go ahead and trade for something more useful for now.

just my 2 cents

angel

I have been keeping everything that we like. My kids are 14, 11, 10, 3 and 5 months and I plan on trying to keep all the ones that we like until I don't need them anymore.

I save books for my future grandchildren!

I don't save all the hs books, just the very good ones. 

While 7 years seems like a very long time, it really isn't.  I would probably save the books that I wanted to use again.

My kids are 16 12,11, and 4.  I would save anything that is hard to find.  
Evaluate :
How long will it be before I will need this again? 
Am I totally certain that the next child will use this? ie;I have some books that I will assign to my chilodren just because I think it is valuable.  Other books we have just because it was a preference of that child.  

Common books I would not save.  For instance my two middle boys were VERY into boxcar children books.  It seemed like forever!  So for a while I started collecting them.  Now they take up a good deal of space on our shelves.... but the boys don't read them any more (finally!).  I've noticed that you can find this series everywhere so I am planning on getting rid of them.  They will not be required reading for my 4yr old. When my now 4 yr old is ready, I'll have him read one.  If he really wants them... we just get em again.

Something I've been doing as well is collecting hardback versions of favorites.  Even if I already have it.  Then I'll get rid of the paperback.  I have a thing for a good sturdy book.  I love to find popular books in an older hardback version. 

Keep life simple is my motto.  and I've found that sometimes I collect more than we really need.  I'm even clearing out some curriculum that I am sure I won't use.  Although I admit to saving most because you never know what will work for one child or another. 

My kiddos are a bit closer in age than that but I was thinking the same thing.  I don't have the space to hang onto 5 years of curriculum and books.  I have decided for things like picture books and some of the really good core books that it's best to hold onto them.....the rest well I swap. My reason is editions are always improving and nearly all the classics now come on a kindle (free) .  Whose to say in about 5-10 years how affordable they will be and what else will be available,.  Personally I think 200 books on one small gadget takes up a whole let less room then a bookshelf......that said I do plan to hang on to many of our favorites (picture books, etc) and hard to get books for my younger kids and grandkiddos.  There is still something to be said about holding a real book in your hands ; )

I buy/sell/trade my stuff that I won't need for awhile.  I figure I'll just buy it used again if/when I need it.  Also, by the time I need it again, there's usually a better, updated version of what I had anyway. ;-)

My mom kept all the YA books and such she'd bought for her 4 older kids, but it turns out the 6 younger kids don't like them and have other interests.  She ended up donating them all to a school library, haha.

I have a 3rd grader, 9th grader, and an infant. I started homeschooling when my oldest daughter went into junior high (lets say that was not working) but when it comes to what to save and what to get rid of, I keep history and math textbooks because those don't change but my 3rd grader and 9th grader have way different personalities and interests. I do keep my abeka science and literature text books but other books don't seem to be used often enought to keep indefiantly; we use the library the most because they can both research what they are interested in. I am not sure what general books to keep for my infant, probably what both of my girls have loved through the years.

I kept stuff and still keep stuff to use with my 2nd child because I had the room to store them in a way that they'd not get ruined in between uses. If you have the room and you can store it well so it doesn't get ruined (i.e. using hot attic that ruins the glue bindings or not storing where mice and bugs can enter the boxes) then save it. If you store in cardboard boxes you have to be careful how you stack them and make sure the spines won't crush. You might have to buy strong plastic bins that are more rigid than cardboard. So saving stuff to keep it in good condition sometimes costs some money in the end but it is still much less expensive then reselling, swapping or giving it away then re-buying everything again for the next child.